Atlanta mayor reduces asking price for city jail, but there’s a catch

Whether he gets that remains to be seen.

“I think we’re getting closer to something we can all agree on,” Fulton Commissioner Dana Barrett said Tuesday.

She and her colleagues plan to discuss the city’s latest proposal during an executive session at Wednesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.

Dickens said his latest asking price represents a “discount” of more than $76 million off the facility’s appraised value of nearly $145 million.

“We believe there is a path to an agreement that can address several of the most significant challenges facing our shared constituents,” the mayor wrote.

Attached to his latest letter was a 78-page appraisal report for the detention facility on Peachtree Street. Also included was a financial analysis suggesting the purchase of the detention center could reduce much of the estimated $1.3 billion in renovations planned for Fulton County’s troubled Rice Street jail.

Credit: Ben Hendren

Credit: Ben Hendren

By using the city’s detention center, Dickens said the county could eliminate the need for a temporary facility that would house Fulton’s inmates while renovations to the main jail on Rice Street are being done. He also suggested buying the detention center could save Fulton taxpayers nearly $500 million in the long run.

For nearly four years, the city has leased up to 700 beds to the county as Rice Street remains under the federal consent decree for its “deplorable” conditions. That lease agreement is set to end later this year, however.

“Atlantans are the biggest contributors to Fulton’s general fund,” Dickens wrote. “As such, it is in our mutual interest to work in good faith to resolve this issue.”

Local activists who have long pushed for the closure and repurposing of the city jail have accused Dickens of using the facility as a “bargaining chip” in advance of his own agenda.

The mayor initially sought to sell the jail to the county for $80 million, but he also wanted $200 million for the proposed hospital and support for his plan to extend six of Atlanta’s tax allocation districts another three decades. The County Commission has voted to not participate in the tax district extensions.

In a letter of her own last month, Barrett said Dickens was effectively seeking $1.4 billion in financial commitments for a jail valued at about one-tenth that price.

“I think it is far better for all stakeholders that we negotiate the purchase of (the detention center) separately from TAD extensions or healthcare solutions,” the commissioner wrote.

Credit: Ben Hendren

Credit: Ben Hendren

While the tax district extension discussions appear to no longer be part of the jail haggling campaign, Dickens is still looking for the county to kick in $200 million over the next decade for the hospital.

Morehouse School of Medicine and Atrium Health recently announced plans to move forward with the new teaching hospital on Metropolitan Parkway. City officials have said the proposed hospital would fill the massive gap in healthcare access caused by Wellstar’s decision to shutter Atlanta Medical Center and AMC South several years ago.

Beyond that $200 million hospital commitment, Dickens wants the county to maintain space at the detention center to house city inmates. And he wants any of Atlanta’s displaced corrections staff to be hired by the county.

The city would have first right of refusal for any future sale of the property, and Dickens said he wants the city and county to work together “to ensure commercial property is assessed fairly and accurately.”

Additionally, Dickens said any agreement hinges on the county’s commitment to maintaining a “safe and humane facility.” If the offer is accepted, Fulton must agree to an annual third-party assessment of conditions within the detention center, he said.

Dickens gave the county three weeks to respond, and said his offer expires at 5 p.m. Sept. 21.